How I'm Not Preparing for the One City Marathon

 Disclaimer: I received entry to One City Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Months ago when Bibrave asked which pros would want to run One City Marathon in Newport News, VA on March 13th, I was intrigued.  First because VA isn't too far from PA, it will be about a 5 hour drive but not too bad.  Two because it is only the second year for the event but their website looked great, full of fun and lots of info.  It looked like a well organized event.  But of course what really sealed the deal for me was when my #BRF Angie sent me a message saying she wanted to run it.  Angie and I live hundreds, maybe thousands of miles away (I'm really bad with geography) but we talk almost every day.  We are always saying best running friend online but she really has become one of my closest friends.  We talk about EVERYTHING not just running.  It's an amazing thing because we have only met in person one time ever last year at the Blue Ridge Marathon.  So once she said she was going, it was a done deal, I needed to go cause a raucous with Angie for the weekend down in VA.

Cannot wait to stir up trouble with this lady!!!

Febapple Frozen 50

You may be wondering "why the hell would you sign up for a 50 miler in February in NJ?!"  Yes I know, it was a risky decision but I felt it was necessary to take the chance.  Back in late November when Emir and I were on our 2 week running break (gasp!), I was spending most of my extra time scouring the internet for races I wanted to do in 2016.   I was still not really completely over the DNF at TARC 100 and knew I needed a 100 in the spring time.  I could not bear the thought of waiting until fall to try again.  Also Emir was pretty sure he wants to go for Oil Creek 100 which is in October and we would like to not be training for 100s simultaneously.  As you may recall, one of my biggest mistakes was not knowing enough about the race I signed up for.  Therefore, this time I took days (which is A LOT of time for me) to look over all the info I could find for a few 100s until I finally settled on C & O Canal 100 on April 30th.  What does that have to do with me choosing to run Febapple?  Well a lot actually.  I know all the long miles that go into training for the 100 and I really wanted to do a long ultra but shorter than 100 (obviously) as part of my prep.  I figured it would go a long way not only physically but mentally.  January was too early in the year plus we were doing PHUNT and in the mean time I had committed to running the One City Marathon for Bibrave in March with my #BRF Angie in Newport News, VA.  So that kind of left me with February to play with.  Given, I don't have an endless budget for running, I really needed something within a reasonable driving distance.  As it turns out, there are not too many ultras longer than a 50K in this area in February.  This did not surprise me and I knew it was for good reason.  The weather is usually not great around here in February especially trails.  They tend to stay snow and ice covered way longer than other areas.  But I felt I had a real need to get a long ultra done before my 100 so I signed up.

Bulu Box

Disclaimer: I received a Bulu Box 3 month subscription as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

The Bulu Box

 If you are like me and have never heard of Bulu Box, you are probably wondering "what the heck is that?!"  I had no idea until I was asked to test it for Bibrave.

Bulu Box is a monthly subscription.  Each month they send you a box with 4-5 samples of different items to try.  There are two options: original and weight loss.  I tried out the original for the last 3 months.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!! Entry to Stroehmann Philly BOMF 5 Miler

It's that time of year again!!!  I guess it's become an annual thing for me.  My friend Rebecca Barber sends me an email asking me to give away an entry to the Stroehmann Philly Back On My Feet 5 Miler and of course I say yes.  How could you not want to be involved with an organization like BOMF?!

It's Party time! -- PHUNT 50K

I had such crazy, high expectations going into this year's PHUNT 50K that I thought there was no way it could live up to them.  But Carl, being as amazing as he is, exceeded my expectations.  PHUNT 50K was by far the most fun I've had at an ultra in a long time.

I swear Bryan is at EVERY race